A new survey has revealed that the Isle of Man is the offshore center to beat
for its e-commerce attractions and benefits. This follows completion of a
detailed comparative analysis against a number of leading jurisdictions
including Jersey, Guernsey and Bermuda.

Charteris plc conducted the study, which was commissioned in January by the
Chief Minister's Office to review the implementation of the Isle of Man
Government's e-commerce and e-society strategy. It
follows on from a separate study carried out by Charteris in March 2000, which
undertook to establish the most appropriate means of developing and implementing
an effective environment for electronic commerce to flourish in the Isle of Man.

The study highlighted the increased importance of e-commerce in the global
marketplace and found that the appointment of Tim Craine as Director of
E-commerce was timely and has provided the necessary focus on this area. The
Isle of Man was also found to have developed a clear marketing position on
e-commerce, which has been consistently delivered and retained resulting in a
much improved world profile.

Further progress was documented in telecoms and infrastructure, particularly
with 3G and broadband, where according to the review, there remains further
potential to be exploited.

The Isle of Man's ability to legislate in niche areas of business opportunity
was also commended, particularly the business continuity temporary relocation
legislation which allows regulated organisations in other jurisdictions to
locate temporarily to the Island in the event of a major incident at their main
premises. Charteris highlighted this as a good example of the Island's ability
to legislate quickly to provide commercial benefit.

Tim Craine, Director of e-business, said:

This report reflects the hard work undertaken by the Government over the past two years, to raise
awareness of the Isle of Man as a center for e-commerce in a difficult and
challenging market.

Using the most recent study as a guideline we will now continue our work in this
area, ideally by focussing on new areas for growth, such as pharmaceuticals,
publishing, travel and intellectual property.

The report concluded that the Isle of Man has improved its position in relation
to its closest direct competitors in the last three years.

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